Saying her administration is "leading by example," Mayor Sheila Dixon pushed through a far-reaching policy yesterday banning the city's 13,000 employees from using cell phones, digital music players or other personal electronic devices while driving on city business.
The prohibition, which went into effect yesterday but will not be enforced for 30 days, is broader than any of the cell phone bans adopted in 19 states and the District of Columbia because it does not provide exemptions for speaker phones or other hands-free technology, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The policy applies to those driving on official business in city or personal cars, and covers their work and personal phones.
"This electronic device use has become second nature for people and so it is a habit that so many of us will have to break," Dixon said, before voting for the policy at a meeting of the city Board of Estimates.
Nearly 600 city employees were injured in vehicle accidents last year, costing $6.4 million, according to city figures. Baltimore does not track whether cell-phone use is a factor in accidents, City Solicitor George Nilson said.
The measure passed during an unusually contentious meeting of the panel, where the mayor and two of her department heads constitute a majority. It succeeded on a 3-2 vote, with the two independently elected members dissenting.
City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, who rarely breaks with the mayor publicly, opposed the measure because of what she said were inconsistencies. The new policy bans iPods, she said, but not the car radio. Rawlings-Blake called the ban too broad to be enforceable and not backed by research.
"We are asking more and more of our employees on a daily basis," Rawlings-Blake said. "To me this is like 'Say no to drugs.' Yes, in a perfect world that would work. But that didn't work. We can't just say 'don't do it' and think that is going to change behavior."
Comptroller Joan M. Pratt also voted against the measure, which was opposed by police and city employee unions. "We are imposing a policy without sufficient data," she said. "I think it is too restrictive. I think employees will not adhere to it."
Nilson, who is appointed by the mayor and voted for the measure, said that the administration has not yet determined how the policy will be enforced.
"We don't have people who ride around in city vehicles and personally monitor compliance on a call-by-call basis," he said. "It is going to be enforced as violations come to our attention." Department of Public Works head David E. Scott also backs the plan.
It is also unclear how the policy will affect the Police Department and its 2,900 officers, since it appears to contradict a general order that permits officers to talk on cell phones when the conversation is "for official police business," according to the policy. The policy adopted yesterday says police and other first responders may talk on the phone only for "official emergency communications."
Some state lawmakers have tried for years to prohibit cell phone use while driving in Maryland, without success. The most recent attempt failed this year. That measure included an exemption for hands-free technology.
